Barriers Preventing Refugee Women From Receiving Equal Medical Care

In a perfect world, everyone would receive the same quality of medical care. But in reality, many factors get in the way, including a patient’s ethnicity and cultural upbringing. Debra Penney, an associate professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Utah, conducted research to identify barriers that prevent Iraqi Muslim refugee women from receiving equal healthcare. She found problems ranging from how the visit to the clinic is structured to assumptions made by health care providers. She explains the obstacles, and ways to overcome them.